Measuring Your Stress Level
If you've been wondering what degree of stress you live under, here is a quick way to get a fair estimate.
Dr. Thomas and Dr.Richard Rahe composed a table of events and the amount of stress they cause. The most interesting feature of this table is that the people they interviewed actually told them how they could rate specific events for the stress they cause. This is, therefore, an empirical rather than a medical appraisal of the degree of stress those events caused. As you get used to certain changes in your life, they become less stressful, so these ratings will not be entirely accurate for you. If, for example, you take a vacation only every five years, you might rate it a 25 instead of a 13. The common starting point used was a standard rate of 50 for marriage for all the people interviewed.
The combined total of both positive and negative stresses in the past few months will give you an idea of your current stress level. Keep in mind that people have varying stress-handling capacities and this table does not take into account such regular stresses as recreational drug use, alcoholism, chronic illness, allergy, battering and random stresses such as car accidents, contest winning to the dreaded tax audit. This is presented as information only and should not be used for diagnostic or treatment purposes.
Keep in mind that stress = change. Even good changes such as winning the lottery or falling in love or getting a promotion are stressful. Life is full of events, good and bad....it is not what happens to you that is important, it is how you evaluate and react to the events of your life!
| EVENT | Points |
|---|---|
| Death of spouse | 100 |
| Divorce | 73 |
| Marital separation | 65 |
| Jail term | 63 |
| Death of a close family member | 63 |
| Personal Injury or illness | 53 |
| Marriage | 50 |
| Fired at work | 47 |
| Marital reconciliation | 45 |
| Retirement | 45 |
| Change In health of family member | 44 |
| Pregnancy | 40 |
| Sexual difficulties | 39 |
| Addition of new family member | 39 |
| Business adjustment | 39 |
| Change in financial status | 38 |
| Death of a close friend | 37 |
| Change to different line of work | 36 |
| Change in arguments with spouse | 35 |
| Mortgage over $10,000 | 31 |
| Foreclosure of mortgage or loan | 30 |
| Change in job responsibilities | 29 |
| Son or daughter leaving home | 29 |
| Trouble with in-laws | 29 |
| Outstanding personal achievement | 28 |
| Wife or husband begins or stops work | 26 |
| Beginning or end of school | 26 |
| Change in living conditions | 25 |
| Revision of personal habits | 24 |
| Trouble with boss | 23 |
| Change in work hours or conditions | 20 |
| Change in residence | 20 |
| Change in school | 20 |
| Change in recreational activities | 19 |
| Change in church activities | 19 |
| Mortgage or loan under$10,000 | 17 |
| Change in sleeping habits | 16 |
| Change in number of family get-togethers | 15 |
| Change in eating habits | 15 |
| Vacation | 13 |
| Christmas | 12 |
| Minor violations of the law | 11 |
